Konoha Princess
by Sakura12
Summary: Hamawari is the the stubborn relative of Tsunade. She ran away from home at 16 and is now being forced back. Who's traveling with her? Shikamaru, Sasuke, Naruto, Ino, Hinata, Sakura. But who falls in love? New and updated! New chapters to come!
1. Chapter 1

_**Konoha Princess**_

There once lived a girl named Hamawari Yamamoto. She was one of the grand daughters of the late third Hokage and lived with Tsunade. She was known as the princess of Konoha. She did not like to fight but knew it was her duty to support those around her. She feared for her life though, because she knew that with each mission she went on, each of those around her lives had gotten worse.

"Miss Yamamoto. You're supposed to meet the team leader of your next mission soon. He'll be escorting your group." Mimi explained, laying down Hamawaris' outfit for the day.

"Thanks you Mimi, I'll be there in a moment. But please don't just me miss. Alright?" Hamawari asked.

"Alright... Hamawari. Tsunade is expecting you down there soon though." Mimi said, emphasizing the word soon, in her sentence.

Mimi had been a family friend of hers who traveled from her home with her to Konoha. Just recently she had been acting weird though. She had started calling her Miss Yamamoto. Nobody every called her that except her elders, most of the people from Konoha just called her 'that girl'.

She got into her mission clothes and walked out of her room, and made sure that no one was in the hallway before she walked quietly towards the kitchens. Once there, she saw all the little kittens she had been feeding these past weeks, and began to pet them. After a while a group of children began coming inside and gathering around her.

"Hello Wari. You've come to see us again?" One of the little girls asked.

"Of course. I wouldn't ever forget about you. Anyway look, I've brought food for the day." Hamawari grinned and grabbed some of the food she had stored in her pouch, and handed it to the children.

"Thank you Lady Hamawari." One of the boys said.

"I love bringing you kids food. Makes me feel all sneaky like. Troubles my middle name if you didn't already know that!" She laughed and winked at them while they stared up giddily at her.

"I'm sorry Tsunade-sama. Mimi said Hamawari was on her way." Shizune tried to explain.

"It's alright. As long she gets her; though it doesn't matter because Shikamaru hasn't even arrived yet. I'm afraid he fell asleep on his way here." Tsunade said jokingly.

"Shikamaru, why are you going around the back?" Ino asked him.

"I just feel like it. It just feels like I'll see something important." Shikamaru shrugged and opened the door. "I'll be right back out."

He walked inside the building and noticed that the hallways were oddly deserted. He began to walk and could only hear his own footsteps which had calmed him down considerably. He began to look around when he heard laughter from behind two big brown doors. He looked through the windows and saw a beautiful girl with the most perfect hazel brown hair he had ever seen. She was talking to the little kids. Compared to them, she looked like a princess from the movies. He began to listen to their conversations.

"Hello Hamawari. You've come to visit us again?" A little girl asked. Shikamaru was surprised to find out that this princess was the girl who he was to take back to her home.

"Of course. I wouldn't ever forget about you. Anyway look, I've brought food for the day." She grinned before reaching into her side pouch and taking out some food, handing it to the kids.

"Thank you Lady Hamawari." A boy said.

"I love bringing you kids food. Makes me feel all sneaky like. Troubles my middle name if you didn't already know that!" She laughed. That laugh was magical, it was a laugh that lit up a whole room in warmness, wrapping itself around you.

"How come you live here in Konoha, and not with your real family?" One of the younger kids asked.

"Because if I didn't come here, who would feed the kittens and you?" She asked them, she picked up one of the kids from the floor.

"I think we would be okay Lady. We're stronger now. Besides, if I had a family, I would run to them." One of the older kids said, fiddling with her shoe laces.

Shikamaru saw Hamawaris' ear twitch and she turned towards the door. "I don't take kindly to trespassers sir. So I will kindly let you leave and meet my grandmother. Tell her I will be with her in a moment." The princess said, standing up going towards the door. But by the time she opened it up, no one was there.

About twenty minutes later, Hamawari stepped through the door of the meeting room and sat across from Shikamaru. "Hamawari, so nice of you to finally join us." Tsunade said, staring at Hamawari between her cupped palms.

"My pleasure." Hamawari said sarcastically, slouching back in her seat.

"Alright, now Shikamaru; I would like you to meet Hamawari Yamamoto." Tsunade introduced the two.

"We've had the slight pleasure of briefly meeting already." Hamawari said, looking at Shikamaru with a look that could kill.

"Now, I'm not sure if you were aware Hamwari... but you will be assisting Shikamaru on his mission." Tsunade began oddly.

"And what type of mission is this?" Hamawari asked.

Shikamaru watched her, "Doesn't she know?"

"Don't I know what?"

"Hamawari, Shikamaru will be esco- he will be taking you back to your home... in the mountains." Tsunade explained.

"What!" Hamawari yelled, standing up in her chair. "You know that I never wanted to go back there! You know they don't want me there anymore! I refuse!"

"You will not refuse! You will go back to your own village and they will welcome you with open arms," Tsunade exclaimed, "is that understood?"

"But Tsunade-"

"There will be no questions, you will go!" Tsunade commanded her. She turned towards Shikamaru and instantly had a calm face again, "Are you alright with this Shikamaru."

"Yes Tsunade-sama." Shikamaru said.

"Well, not that this is settled. She'll meet you in front of the Konoha gates at 12:00 pm sharp." Tsunade grinned and left the room, leaving the two teenagers to their own devices.

"I refuse to go along quietly, I hope you know that." Hamawari scowled.

"Who says I'm the only person on my team that has to watch you?" Shikamaru smirked before leaving a confused Hamawari behind her.

First chapters is now revamped!

My writing has improved quite a bit, though you won't be able to see it in this chapter. I'm trying to stay close to the first three chapters story line and then going somewhere else with it.

Ja Ne!  
Ashley


	2. Chapter 2

**Konoha Princess**

It was almost 12 o'clock and Hamawari was just finished feeding all the little orphans in the kitchen. She gave them the rest of her supplies and used what was left in the kitchen, and made them ration it to last for quite awhile until this whole home thing blew over.

"Lady Hamawari, why do you have to go?" The little boy who was on her lap yesterday asked, tears forming in his eyes.

"On orders of Tsunade. I ran away from home when I was little, so this is basically my family taking me back again because they believe Tsunade shouldn't be my legal guardian." Hamawari scowled.

"Why would you run away from your family?" One of the girls asked.

"I don't even think you can call them family. A family aren't people who put a roof over your head, they're the people who cherish every little thing you do. They should put love in your heart, not hatred." Hamawari sighed, getting up from the ground. "But from now on, you're my family!"

"Yay! Lady Wari is our family!" The girl exclaimed.

"Good-bye everyone. See you around." Hamawari walked out fo the kitchen with the little kids yelling, 'Good-bye, and See ya!'

She walked out of the building she once called home. She said good-bye to Tsunade before walking away from her comfortable life as the Konoha princess. She felt free for once but knew that it would all go away once she was back into the arms of her family. She was getting quite a bit of odd looks from villagers and finally the kids that picked on her began appearing. Sakura Haruno, Ino Yamanaka and their faithful follower, Hinata Hyuuga. Her rivals. Although it doesn't seem that Hinata could be mean... well you really don't know Hinata that well.

"Hey look Sakura, it's her." Hinata said, pointing Hamawari out.

"Yeah, you're right. Does she think she can just walk away after ignoring us for how many years? Where are you even going Hamawari?" Sakura asked.

"Why would I tell you?" Hamawari growled.

"Because, there's only one way you could be heading. That my dear, would be the gates." Ino said.

"I have to leave the Leaf Village. Orders from Tsunade." Hamawari said.

"Why?" Sakura asked curiously.

"Because, I'm going home. She has decided that I should face my punishment of what I did when I ran away from home. So now I have to go back to the Yamamoto Clan mountains." Hamawari explained.

"What did you do? Are you going to come back?" Hinata asked.

"I don't know if I'm coming back, and as for what I did is none of your concern." Hamawari said, they had just arrived at the gates. Standing there was the three ninjas who were escorting her. Shikamaru Nara, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sasuke Uchiha.

"What are you doing here Ino?" Shikamaru asked.

"Hamawari has invited us to come with her. Didn't you?" Ino stated.

"Sure, why not?" Hamawari grumbled. It wouldn't be that bad having them there. Maybe if they occupied the guys properly she could randomly disappear.

"I don't care, let's just get this over with." Sasuke said, he started to walk away.

"Yeah, let's get this over with." Sakura said, trying to act just as cool as Sasuke.

Everyone started to walk with them except for Hamawari. "Aren't you coming?" Shikamaru asked, turning his head towards her.

"No, I thought I'd jsut stick around. You know? I kind of want to suck in the sites a bit." Hamawari said sadly.

"Do you really want to stay?" Shikamaru asked her.

She looked at him, "Yeah..."

"To bad."

Hamawari rolled her eyes and followed him, 'This could be an interesting trip'.

"Shikamaru, are you coming? You're slowing us down!" Naruto yelled.

"Well, since you guys have decided to flirt with the girls; you kind of gave me no choice but to be the one who takes care of Hamawari." Shikamaru said, making her blush.

"I've already told you. I don't need to be watched!" Hamawari yelled, jumping ahead of the group.

"Hamawari!" Hinata cried just as something appeared in front of the group and pushed Hamawari to the ground.

"No!" Hamawari cried as she contacted the ground. Her clothes had began to tear and she was bleeding very badly from the back of her head. Shikamaru jumped down to her and checked out to see if anything was broken. One of the attackers threw something out of the bushes towards them, about to hit Shikamaru when Naruto jumped in front of him and grabbed it.

"Show yourself!" Shikamaru growled. Sasuke and Naruto stood infront of the three other girls as two ninjas appeared from the bushes.

"So I see we have a Uchiha and the nine tailed fox. And who's the one who found out us?" The girl ninja asked.

"My name is Shikamaru Nara, and the girl is Hinata Hyuuga. I think you just met your match." Shikamaru grinned.

"I can't move!" The male ninja gasped, Shikamaru has used his Kagemane jutsu when the two attackers weren't looking.

"Alright Shikamaru!" Ino exclaimed.

"Be quiet Ino!"Sasuke barked.

"You know. Ino, Hinata and I don't need to be protected! We're pretty powerful as well you know!" Sakura complained.

"Yes, but Tsunade didn't say you could come! So from here on, unless we say so, you are to do nothing except move yourself when told." Sasuke said.

"Alright." Sakura said, instantly shutting up.

The fight began to rage on for quite some time. Hamawari stood back and watched as Shikamaru protected her and the others. Finally the battle stopped and the other ninjas retreated back into the forest wounded. Shikamaru bent down and noticed that Hamawaris' neck had been cut up, as well as her wrists, arms and legs. Her clothes were also cut.

"Sakura, can you come over her and clean up her cuts. Ino, can you help Hamawari get changed and ready to go again." Shikamaru ordered.

"Yes!" The said in unison before running off to do their tasks.

"Hinata, can you clean up Sasuke and Naruto." Shikamaru ordered her.

"Y-yes." Hinata said.

After Sasuke and Naruto's cuts were cleaned up, Hinata went to Shikamaru and helped him. But finally after an hour, Hamawari was all cleaned up, she was wearing a different outfit so they began walkng again.

"I told you that you needed to be watched." Shikamaru said.

"I guess you're right..." Hamawari said.

"Well, I'm glad you're alright Wari."

She looked at him, "Why are you calling me that?"

"I assumed that it's what you like being called. I heard some of the kitchen children calling you that." Shikamaru said.

"Oh yeah?" She asked him.

"Yeah."

"Well don't."

They walked in silence again. Shikamaru looked at her again, "I noticed that you didn't cry when you got hurt."

"I use to be a self mutilator." Hamawari said, looking down at her shoes.

"You cut yourself?" Shikamaru asked, surprised that someone as nice and cheerful as her could be so angry at the world as to do that to herself.

"Hiding emotions isn't good. My sister passed away quite a bit ago, she killed herself." Hamawari explained.

"Oh." Shikamaru said just as Ino appeared behind them.

"I couldn't help but eavesdrop when I heard that your sister was dead." Ino said.

"Ino! Could you just for once mind your own damn business?" Hamawari exclaimed, running ahead of the two.

"Hamawari! I thought we agreed that you needed someone to watch you!" Shikamaru exclaimed, "God Ino! You're such a nuisance!"

"Shikamaru!" Ino cried.

Alright! Chapter two finished! Seems like it's a little bit longer which makes me happy!

Ja Ne!  
Ashley


	3. Chapter 3

**Konoha Princess**

"Alright, we're sleeping here for the night. It would be troublesome to move forward anymore without a risk of those ninjas coming back." Shikamaru explained.

"Okay." Ino said, a little depressed from Shikamaru's sudden outburst earlier that day.

Shikamaru grabbed a tent bag from his bag and set it on the ground. Hamawari instantly began setting up the tent by herself with perfect precision.

"Hamawari?" Shikamaru asked.

"Yeah?" She looked back at him.

"What are you doing?" He asked again.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She stated.

"Why are you doing it?" He asked.

"So many questions," Hamawari scowled, giggling afterwards, "because you saved me from those ninjas. This is the least I could do... There!"

The tent had been successfully set up, and it looked better than any other person there had done. Even when Naruto came to examine it, and tripped into the side, it didn't topple. Everyone looked at her with jaws dropped.

"What?" She asked clueless.

"Nothing, let's just go to sleep." Shikamaru said.

Everyone entered the tent and set up their stuff. Once it looked like everyone was fast asleep, Shikamaru woke up and looked at Hinata who had been reading.

"Yes?" Hinata asked.

"If Hamawari leaves the tent at all tonight, I would like you to follow her. So that means you shouldn't midnight train tonight." Shikamaru warned.

"A-alright." Hinata said, putting her book down and falling into a light slumber. Shikamaru on the other hand passed out.

Everyone slept forever. Occasionally the guys would go outside of the tent to go to the washroom, but they would come back and pass out again. Hinata was still asleep through all of this. Hamawari woke up and got out of her sleeping bag.

She reached for her bag just in case she needed extra quickly stepped over Hinata who was in front of the tent door and left the tent without anyone waking up. She looked outside and stretched, heading for the trees by the waterfall.

Hinata opened her eyes and looked over to see that Hamawari was gone, so she quietly got out of her sleeping bag and followed Hamawaris' tracks. Walking towards the water fountain she saw Hamawari practicing her water chakra. It wasn't like Hinata had never seen her practice before. She actually had and Hamawari was pretty amazing.

"I know you're there." Hamawari said, looking up. Hinata, for a second thinking it was her Hamawari had called out, was about to step out when two ninjas appeared from the bushes.

"Hamawari, your father sent us to warn you that there are some fugitives out to get you." Elana said, smiling.

"You're lying." Hamawari said very bluntly.

"No we're not!" Elana gasped.

"You're not Elana and Alan. They haven't got the powers you possess. Nor would they tell me that there are fugitives were after me. They would just watch me from the side lines." Hamawari said. She stood up to completely look at them, "Nobody can fool me. Not even the people in my group can."

Alan jumped for Hamawari when Hinata appeared out of nowhere, a kunai in hand. "Oho, what's this? A girl ninja. From the village hidden in the leaves. How sweet." Alan spat.

"Hinata, please don't concern yourself. I can handle this." Hamawari said.

"No way," Shikamaru told me to protect you." Hinata said.

"Koro No Jutsu!" Elana yelled, she formed a ball of chakra in her hands and threw it towards the two girls.

"Hinata!" Hamawari gasped as Hinata grabbed her and threw her behind everyone.

"NO!" Hinata screamed, her jacket singed and almost her shirt underneath.

* * *

"Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed, waking up from his dreams. He ran over to Shikamaru and shook him constantly.

"Naruto..." Shikamaru groaned. Naruto looked over to the girls beds at the end of the tent and noticed they were empty.

"They're gone!" Naruto exclaimed.

"Who's gone?" Shikamaru asked, sitting up sleepily.

"Hamawari and Hinata!" Naruto exclaimed.

"This is so troublesome... wake up the others. We've got to find them!" Shikamaru yelled, getting out from his sleeping bag as did the other. That's when they heard another scream, this time it was Hamawaris'. "Come on!"

"We're coming!" Sakura yelled, her and Ino catching up to the guys.

Naruto and Shikamaru were in the lead, trying to reach the girls before anything else happened. They reached the water fall trees and Naruto saw that Hinata looked badly hurt, as well as Hamawari. But they both stood their ground.

"Tired yet?"Elana smirked.

"Never." Hamawari smirked back, throwing her chakra to the ground, Hinata did the same. "Never mess with two ninjas, on their own territory."

"Or else, you're dead." Hinata smirked, surprising everyone.

"Kikki Makairo!" The two girls yelled, sending vibes through the ground that would grab their enemies and start choking them.

Alan managed to get away from the grip, running towards the two helpless girls, who would be completely defenseless if they dropped the attack because their chakra flow would be disrupted and end up making a somewhat bomb mine.

The two girls closed their eyes for the impact from Alan, but it never came! All the girls and guys were standing around them. They had gasped, "N-Naruto?" Hinata asked, Hamawari and her voice began to pale.

"Don't worry. You're alright now." Hamawari smiled, turning back to the fight.

"So you have more back up now Princess. How pathetic, you can't even do anything for yourself." Alan spat.

"How dare you speak to her that way!" Sakura exclaimed.

"You had no right!" Ino yelled angrily.

Hamawari and Hinata finally pulled their hands out of the water and began panting heavily.

"Are you alright Hinata?" Hamawari asked, and Hinata nodded. "Give me your hand."

"Why?" Hinata asked, putting her hand out.

"I don't know if you can transfer chakra. But I can. Just let me mix your and my power to make it stronger and we'll transfer it to one of them." Hamawari explained.

"Alright." Hinata said, Hamawari grabbed Hinata's hand and began transferring the chakra between the two.

"Ino-san!" Hamawari motioned the blonde kunoichi towards her.

"Yes?" Ino asked.

"Take the chakra inside my body. It's combined with my normal powers. Making it stronger." Hamawari said, focusing all the chakra into her palms as she touched Ino's hands, transferring them all before collapsing. Luckily Ino had caught her in a extra strong grip.

"Are you okay?" Ino asked.

"Just go and fight." Hamawari scowled before going unconscious at the same time as Hinata.

* * *

Hamawari and Hinata woke up hours later only to see that the camp was all packed up and they were on the move again. The only thing was, that they weren't walking. Hinata had looked up to see Naruto carrying her bridal style. This made her blush madly and faint in his arms... again.

Hamawari on the other hand, looked down to see Shikamaru carrying her with Ino close on their tail. He side glanced at her and smiled, a big blush appeared on her cheeks and she buried her hair in his neck.

"Come on you guys. Let's take a break." Shikamaru said, they stopped in a meadow with the flowers on the side.

But it wasn't just any meadow. It was a rose meadow. All the roses were off to the side, and looked as if they could fight off anything that would try to harm the good people who were let inside. It was a combination of red roses and yellow roses. Ino looked at them carefully.

"I love them!" Ino exclaimed, running to the roses and smelling them.

Shikamaru and Naruto put the two girls down and they fell to their knees. They had a headache and felt as if their legs couldn't hold out anymore.

"How long were we out for?" Hamawari asked.

"Last night until this afternoon." Shikamaru said, putting his head onto the ground, looking up at the clouds like he usually does.

"Wow, that's a long time." She said, as she began lying down to stare at the clouds. "Shikamaru?"

"Hn?" He asked, you could tell he was half-way to having a nap.

"Why'd you save me twice already?" She asked.

"Because you're my troublesome mission. I'm getting paid double I usually do on a mission to get you there." Shikamaru replied, not once opening his eyes.

"Oh." She said, staring at her feet before standing up. "Well, alright then..."

She took one more look at him before sighing and walking away, though she didn't realize that Shikamaru was watching her the whole time while walking away.

"Hey Hamawari. You look sorta depressed." Ino said, putting her arm around the Konoha princess.

"Since when have we been this chummy?" Hamawari asked glumly.

"Since last night. You gave me Hinata and your chakra, and I became so strong. I didn't have to worry about being protected because I could protect myself!" Ino explained.

"Well I'm glad that we've proved you're strong. But last time I checked, we were not friends." Hamawari said, rolling her eyes.

"Hamawari-chan!" Hinata exclaimed from across the field. Her speech stuttering was gone after she became much more confident. She ran up to the two girls.

"Hinata-chan." Himawari said, turning around.

"Shikamaru-kun wanted me to tell you that we'll be moving soon and should be arriving in your village tonight, no later than the sun sets." Hinata smiled.

"That's not good news. I don't want to go back." Hamawari frowned, sitting on the ground, placing her hand on her chin.

"Why not? You get to see your family again! Your mom, and your dad! Even your sister!" Ino exclaimed.

"I don't care about them. My parents don't care about me either. The villagers treat me like I'm the scum on their shoe. The only family that has ever cared about me was my brother, grandfather, and Tsunade." Hamawari scowled.

"Your brother hey?" Sakura stated, appearing out of thin air.

"My brother just came back a couple of years ago. I heard that he finished his training to become a ninja in the Hoshigakure village." Hamawari said.

"Is that why you came to Konoha. To become a ninja?" Hinata asked.

"Well, that was going to be one of my intentions. But, after running away from school, my parents became mad at me and wouldn't let me come home. So I came to live with Tsunade." Hamawari explained, looking at her feet.

"Why'd they get mad at you?" Ino asked.

"Hinata! Sakura! Ino! Ashley! We're leaving now!" Naruto yelled across the field.

"Alright, we're coming!" Hamawari yelled back, glad that the subject wouldn't be pried into further. "Come on you guys!"

She started walking towards the guys. Sakura said, "She has a secret, and we're going to figure it out." She grinned mischievously. She didn't believe that Hamawari was the stuck up village princess. The girls nodded hesitantly as they began their descent into the mountains.

* * *

"Shut up dobe." Sasuke said, arguing with Naruto about not bringing Ramen.

"But I'm hungry." Naruto whined.

"Shut up!" Everyone yelled together, as Hamawari smacked Sasuke and Naruto's head's together.

"What the hell!" Sasuke exclaimed.

"You were pissing us off." Hamawari began.

"You were yelling at each other." Ino said.

"You were fighting over Ramen!" Hinata yelled.

"You just piss me off." Sakura said, surprising everyone that she said that in front of her precious Sasuke-kun.

"You're to troublesome." Shikamaru said.

A long awkward silence occurred before Hamawari spoke, "The suns starting to go down."

"Hn." The guys replied while the girls nodded.

"Look at me trying to start a conversation. All you guys can do is nod and say 'hn'. Jeez." Hamawari said, looking away from everyone.

"Why did you run away?" Ino asked suddenly.

"Why don't you want to go back for good?" Sakura asked.

"I was the prim and proper, perfect princess the were looking for. It was very pressuring. And as for running away, that is none of your concern. Ask me that again and I'll make you go home by yourself!

"Hamawari-chan..." Hinata began.

"What!" Hamawari yelled.

"We just want to know why you never got to know us." Hinata whispered.

"I was busy with my own life." Hamawari replied. Hinata opened up her eyes and pulled Hamawari to the side.

"Hinata, what're you doing?" Shikamaru asked, stopping the group.

"Pee break." Hinata replied sheepishly. Disappearing into the trees with Hamawari close behind, just until they reached a small and tiny clearing.

"Hinata, what are you doing?" Hamawari asked.

"Please Hamawari-chan, just tell me something. Please? Anything?" Hinata asked, "Hinata-chan..." Hamawari began crying, "it's really hard for me to talk about."

"Hamawari..."

"Before I ran away from home, something horrible happened."

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"I killed my sister." Hamawari explained.

"What!" Hinata exclaimed.

Hamawari choked on her tears, "I- I knew she was going to kill herself. She wanted me to help her. So I helped her! I filled the bath tub and dropped in the hair dryer while she was in the bathtub. It was horrible!"

"It's going to be okay," Hinata said, hugging her friend.

"It's all my fault!" She cried.

"It's not your fault, you did what your elder asked you to do. It's just what happens." Hinata said, they sat there on the ground and the two hugged.

* * *

Alright! All finished and updated!  
Ja Ne!

Ashley


	4. Chapter 4

**Konoha Princess**

After pouring out her heart out to Hinata, they both appeared back to the group. Avoiding the stares of the others. Shikamaru carefully watched Hamawari and instantly went to her side as the group started moving again. "Hamawari-"

"When will we get there?" She asked him.

"What?" He asked her back.

"I would like to know when we'll arrive at my village." She failed to look at him and hid her face from his point blank stare.

He looked away, "Two more hours."

She sighed, "May I ask a favor?"

"What?" He asked her.

"Can we- would it be possible to- I'd like to stay one more night in the forest before going back there. I don't think I could handle all this stress in one day." She explained.

"Well yeah, I guess we can." Shikamaru said, looking up at the sky to see the the sun almost all the way down.

"Thank you." She said, finally looking at him and smiling.

About an hour away from the Yamamato village, Shikamaru told his group (regardless of how they felt), they would be stopping here because he had a headache. Everyone complained, but in the end, Shikamaru was the leader, and whatever he says... goes.

Everyone started to set up so that they could have a good night of rest, and just relax by the fire. Naruto gathered fire wood, Sasuke started the fire, Hamawari set up the tent, the other girls gathered food, and Shikamaru... supervised. Naruto looked at him, "You know, you could help!"

"But then who would watch to make sure you were doing it right?" Shikamaru asked them as Hamawari stiffled a giggle.

It was finally dark out and everyone relaxed around the fire. Hamawari and Hinata sat by each other, shivering just a bit. Trying to keep the side they were practically connected by the hip, warm. Naruto, who had a massive blanket, asked Hinata if she wanted to share, and after asking Hamawari if it would be alright, went right over and snuggled up.

Hamawari watched the fire crackle before her eyes and smiled, this felt right, it felt like home. Holding in a shiver, she wrapped her arms around her legs and hugged herself. She slowly felt a warm cotton fall onto her shoulders, she looked over to see Shikamaru sitting beside her, wrapping a blanket around the both of them. She watched him carefully, "Hi."

"Hi." He said back. "Are you alright?"

"I don't know what you mean." She looked straight ahead again, not wanting to look at him.

"Well to begin with, when you and Hinata came back from going to the 'washroom' together, you look like you had been crying. Then you ask to spend another night away from your real family." Shikamaru explained.

"That isn't a family... this is a family." She said, pointing at everyone.

Ino and Sakura were sitting with Sasuke, who was trying to ignore them the best he could despite their persistence. Naruto and Hinata were still sitting pretty close together, her face was bright red, and Naruto kept asking her if she had a fever. Shikamaru smiled, "Yeah, this really is a family right?"

She nodded and got in closer to him, shivering. She felt the temperature in her face go up about 10 degrees when he put his arm around her and got in closer. "Can I tell you a secret, Shikamaru?"

"Yeah."

"I don't want to go back."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't want to be a prisoner anymore. I- I can't do it. I'm not treated like a human there. They aren't my family." She began to choke up.

Shikamaru hugged her tightly, "Hey, don't worry it's going to be okay. We'll be there for you."

Everyone continued watching the fire until the last ember was gone. Everyone started heading in to the tent while Shikamaru said he would be right inside, he just needed to wake Hamawari up. Once it was quiet and he knew that everyone would be asleep he shook Hamawari to see if she was up, "Hamawari... Hamawari please wake up. It's time to go to bed."

"Hn.. No.. I didn't do it.. please stop.. I'm sorry..." She said in her sleep.

He picked her up and began carrying her inside the tent, carefully stepping over everyone, "Shh, it's okay. Everything will be alright."

"I didn't mean it! No! It's not my fault! It's not my fault!" She cried.

He went to put her down into her sleeping bag but she wrapped her arms around his neck and wouldn't let go. He sighed, "Come on Hamawari, I need to go to sleep."

"Please, don't leave me." She said, slightly aware of what she was doing.

He looked at her tear stained face and picked her and her blankets up. Once again, carefully avoiding his sleeping team mates, he went over to his sleeping bag and set her down before sitting next to her, zipping the two sleeping bags together. He looked at her again before lying down. He knew it was probably creepy, but he faced her right before he kissed her forehead and said, "Goodnight... Hamawari."

Hamawari went to bed with a smile on her face.

Hamawari woke up the next morning with her head resting on something very strong and comfortable. She lifted her head to see a peaceful, sleeping Shikamaru. Alarmed, she tried to sit up but found herself stuck to his chest because he was hugging her tightly to his body.

She looked up and saw Hinata who was just getting up. She motioned towards Shikamaru and how she couldn't get up. Hinata gave her a very suggestive look before taking going to help. She carefully lifted Shikamarus' arm away from Hamawari and watched as her friend quietly slid away. She looked at Hinata and blushed, "Don't start with me."

Hinata giggled and follow her friend out of the tent. The two went towards the stream and washed their faces in silence, moments later Ino and Sakura joined them while the guys were groggily coming out of the tent. Ino looked at Hamawari, and from the look that she was giving, she knew that Hamawari had slept by Shikamaru all night, and she was hurt.

"Hamawari!" She heard Shikamaru yell. She jumped up as fast as she could and ran into the tent.

"What's wrong?" She asked him, breathing heavily.

He looked up at her and groaned, "I thought you had gone missing. Kidnapped or something... thank god."

She looked at him quietly before sitting on the ground, "Thank you."

"For what?" He asked her.

"Letting me cling to you like a monkey last night." She said, fiddling with her hair.

"Listen Hamawari, I know you don't want to go back home-"

"I actually think it's time to face my demons." Hamawari said, standing up, "Let's just go find everyone so we can get going." Shikamaru watched her walk away and rustled in his hair in confusion.

They stopped outside the gates of the village, waiting for someone to open them. Hamawari looked at her friends and smiled, "I'm so glad you guys were the ones to come with me. But I'm sure I'll be fine from here on out."

"Actually Hamawari, we were supposed to stay a couple of days to make sure everything is alright with you." Naruto explained.

"Oh... um... okay?" She said, twiddling with her fingers. This was the last thing she ever wanted, she didn't want everyone to know how the people in her village treated her like.

Slowly the gates opened, standing in the entrance was two very tall masculine men. Hamawari and everyone walked forward. Shikamaru put out his hand, "Hello I am."

"This way please." One of the men said. They turned around and began walking towards the heart of the village.

"Do we follow them?" Sasuke asked.

"I think so..." Ino answered.

They slowly followed, Hamawari taking up the rear with Hinata and Shikamaru. Nobody said a word, but they all knew that each person they passed in the village was watching them, or more specifically Hamawari. She watched the ground, trying not to hear the whispers.

A little boy around the age of 4 looks at his mom, "Mommy, isn't that the murderer?"

"Shh Tonya, she might hear you." The woman whispered, taking her child by the hand and walking away as fast as she could.

Hamawari didn't looked at her friends as they walked. She just looked forward, waiting for this walk of shame to be over. "Hamawari?" Hinata asked.

"I'm fine Hinata, everything is alright." She said, consoling the thoughts going on in her head, more than telling Hinata she was indeed okay and that everything was alright, this was just a fluke.

The reached the head house in the village and the doors opened. One of the men who had been leading them turned to face them while the other walked to his right, disappearing into the crowd of onlookers, "You may enter." He said.

Hamawari nodded and she took up the front of the group, knowing where she needed to go. They followed her in silence, taking in their surroundings. Quietly, watching as they passed each door, each photograph, each servant. That is, until they reached the grand entrance into the 'living room'.

Hamawari stepped through the doorway and waved nonchalantly, "Hi."

"Hamawari!" A male voiced yelled. A very tall man came stumbling through the way and tried to grab onto Hamawari. Shikamaru reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

"Shikamaru!" Hamawari screeched, "What in the lords name do you think your doing!"

"Excuse me, but it seems you have quite a strong grip on my younger sister." The man said as Shikamaru released her.

"Uh, sorry." He said, stepping back.

"I've missed you Haruto." Hamawari said, embracing her brother.

"Yes, it's been quite some time since you and I ran up and down these halls." Haruto said, laughing at their childhood memories.

"Where are mom and dad?" She asked.

"I don't know where they-"

"Welcome home, Hamawari."


	5. Chapter 5

**Konoha Princess**

"Mum... Dad... it's so nice to see you." Hamawari said awkwardly, going towards her parents while Shikamaru and the others stood awkwardly by the door.

"Are you guys going to come inside? You're blocking the damn door." Haruto scowled. The group shuffled slowly inside the room as the door was closed behind them.

"Hamawari, sweetie..." Her mother said, tears swelling in her eyes.

Her father nodded at her and sat back down again, "I'm glad you decided to come back."

"I was forced to come back actually, you of all people should know that." Hamawari pointed out, sitting on one of the many couches.

"I will not be spoken to like that." He said, slamming his drink onto the table.

She flinched but kept her face in check, not wanting to show any emotion of being scared. Haruto looked at his father, "There was no reason for either of you to act like that."

"Please Haruto, let them talk." Their mother said, sitting beside her husband.

Hamawari and her father had a locked gaze. Neither saying anything until, "So why did you want me to come back after all these years?"

"It's been decided that we need to 'fix' you." He said.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" She asked him.

"You are now engaged to be married." He replied.

"What!" Shikamaru, Haruto, and Hamawari said at the same time.

"Silence!" Her fathered yelled, "His name is Takashi Yukimura and he kindly offered his assistance in 'correcting' you."

"I don't need to be corrected!" She screamed at him.

"Why didn't you tell me my own sister was being married off! How dare you do this without my permission!" Haruto yelled.

"She is my daughter! And she will do as told!" Their fathered roared back.

Everything went silent and Haruto breathed heavily before storming out of the room, brushing into Ino as he went. Ino watched on confused, she didn't realize what a dysfunctional family Hamawari had, but now it was all coming to the surface.

"But daddy..." Hamawari whispered.

"You will marry him, that is final." He told her, walking towards the Konoha ninjas. "Each of you will stay here to make sure things go as they should. And who is the one they call Shikamaru?"

"I am." Shikamaru stepped forward, "At your service."

"You will watch over Hamawari to make sure she is doing nothing wrong. You must be at her side at all times unless otherwise instructed by Takashi or I. Is this understood?" He asked Shikamaru,

"Yes, sir."

* * *

Everyone was settled in the guest room while Shikamaru and Hamawari were off in her bedroom, he was probably trying to comfort her at this moment. The group sat in silence, unpacking their bags, taking turns in the showers. Everyone finished up what they were doing and they sat in a circle. Naruto said, "So.. nice family right?"

"Naruto." Sakura warned.

"Did you see Haruto?" Ino asked.

"This is no time to be boy watching Yamanaka." Sasuke scowled.

"Actually Uchiha, I was not checking him out. I was merely pointing out his expressions, and his somewhat odd taste for women." Ino said.

"What do you mean?" Hinata asked.

"He seemed a bit... incestuous. Don't you think?" Ino began, "Did nobody else see the way he was looking at her?"

"Ino!" Hinata exclaimed.

"I'm just saying!"

"Well maybe you shouldn't." Shikamaru said, walking into the room

Ino gasped, "Shikamaru, you should be watching Hamawari!"

"She's sleeping."

"I thought you were her twenty-four hour watch?" Sakura asked.

"Even a 'watcher' needs a break." Shikamaru said, he sat on one of the empty beds and put his hands on his face.

"So," Hinata began, "how is she doing?"

Shikamaru sighed, "She's doing just fine. She cried herself to sleep though."

"Can you believe her parents are forcing her to marry someone?" Sakura asked, she flopped herself onto her back and looked up at the ceiling, "I would never talk to my parents if they did that. I might have ran away."

"But that's normal in this type of situation." Sasuke said.

"What do you mean?" She asked him.

Instead Hinata spoke, "In a clan or village where your family is very high on top such as hers is, then you really don't have a choice because it is part of the tradition. There is a very high chance that they will disown you if you say no."

"You mean she has no choice?" Ino asked.

"Yeah, the only way to get out of this is to basically leave her family for life." Hinata said.

"So wait, didn't she already try to run away?" Naruto asked.

"Maybe that was the reason she was trying to run away the first time." Sakura suggested.

"That's not even close to the reason!" Hinata exclaimed, "You guys don't know anything about the situation she was in, or why her family is so cold to her. So don't try to pry!"

"Well either way," Ino said, choosing to ignore Hinata's outburst, "she could always come back to Konoha, right?"

"No, she can't." Sasuke said.

"And why not?" Naruto asked, "I'm sure Granny Tsunade would take her in."

"Because we need to keep a good connection with the Village hidden in the mountains," Shikamaru explained, "Tsunade would have no choice but to send her away. And she would never be able to live with one of us."

"So there is no way out of this?" Ino asked.

"No, there isn't."

* * *

Hamawari continued crying even after Shikamaru had left the room. He had laid down with her, trying to calm her down and get her to sleep. After awhile she gave up and pretended to whimper in her sleep, suppressing the violent shudders that were trying to creep their way down her spine. But as soon as he left she just let it all out and she began pacing around the room in a violent rage. She picked up all the toys she had as a child and began to throw them around the room and against the walls.

"This isn't fair!" She cried as she ripped 'princess curtains' that surrounded her bed down, "Why is this happening to me? What did I do to deserve this?"

She grabbed her goose-down pillows and ripped them to shreds and watched as the feathers filled the air before she fell to the ground and cried again.

"Hamawari?" A male voice asked.

She looked over and saw Haruto who had a very worried expression on his masculine features, "Haruto..."

She burst into tears again. Haruto sighed and walked over to his little sister, he sat down beside her and brought her head into his chest as he hugged her, "It's going to be okay."

"Y-you don't know what I'm going through!"

"I may not know about your situation, but I know what being forced to do something is like. So I know that it is not a pleasant feeling." He explained. He touched the top of her head, taking off some of the feathers that had gotten attached to her hair.

"This is-isn't fair. Why am I being punished?" She asked him, "I didn't do anything! You know that I didn't do anything so why don't they understand that?"

"I think they just want their little girl back." He explained to her.

"And they think that forcing me to marry someone I've never met before will help me love them more?" She pushed herself away from her brother. Those were not the comforting words she needed from a brother, he didn't want to really help her and she certainly didn't need his help!

Haruto stood up from his spot, "I'm going to get that boy who has to watch over you, it seems like he disappeared. He should have stopped this from happening."

"It's not his fault!"

"It very well is!" Haruto raised his voice to his sister for the first time in his life and was very surprised.

"Haruto..."

"If he had been here you wouldn't have destroyed your room. If he had been here I would be able to be the big brother I'm supposed to be and not the jerk that yells at you! I'll see to it that he doesn't stay here until the wedding at any cost." Haruto's eyes became a cold and dark lifeless colour. He looked at the door and began to walk out.

"Please Haruto," Hamawari pleaded, "it's not his fault I did this! I would have done it either way and you know that! I'm a crack job, remember? That's why this marriage is happening so I'll be fixed! You only have to put up with me for a bit longer! Haruto... please."

He watched his sisters begging eyes for any signs of a lie. But he found none, "Mind your own business."

He walked out the door and slammed it behind him. He heard her scream after him and heard the banging of her bedroom door, but it was locked from the inside and only a select few had the key. He cringed as he heard her cry out, "No! Please Haruto! Please don't hurt him! Nooooo!"

* * *

Shikamaru watched as Haruto walked down the hallway and passed by him as he hid in the shadows, holding his breath. He had heard the entire conversation and his heart ached immensely. He walked toward the room and walked in, hearing the click noise the lock made as it locked behind him. Hamawari was sitting on the ground with her legs crossed, looking at a broken photograph. Shikamaru looked around the room, noticing the destruction she had caused and began quickly cleaning it up. The entire time he cleaned, Hamawari sat in the same spot, her face was twisted into a look of pain.

After everything was cleaned up, he went over and kneeled in front of her. He took the photograph from her hands and placed it on the desk behind him. He walked back to her and grabbed her bloody hands from obviously smashing things around. Shikamaru led her into the bathroom as he began to clean all of the glass and feathers out of her hair and gloves right before he put her hands under the luke warm water in the sink. Hamawari winced in pain and began to cry, regardless of the noise she made, Shikamaru kept her hands under the sink until the cuts on her hands stopped bleeding.

He led her back into her room and turned around, "Okay, now change out of your clothes. They're dirty and wet."

Hamawari started changing without even arguing. As she was changing Shikamaru surveyed the damage around the room, 'Wow, it looks like a wild animal got in here and attacked everything.'

He hearda a choked cry from behind him and he whirled himself around to face her, his face turning beat red when he realized she was wearing just her bra and underwear. They locked eyes with each other. "You should crawl into bed now," He said, leading her onto her bed and under the covers.

Hamawari laid there and covered her face, "I'm sorry."

"What?" He asked her.

"I'm usually much stronger than this, I have tons of confidence. But coming home today... it just seemed like I was back to the life I had lived before I had run away to Konoha." She explained.

Shikamaru smiled and kissed her forehead, "Don't be stupid. You're one of the smartest, coolest girls I know."

"You think?"

"I know."

* * *

R&R :)

Ashley


End file.
